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China Says Acceleration to New Growth Drivers a Must as July Consumption, Output Miss Forecasts

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China Says Acceleration to New Growth Drivers a Must as July Consumption, Output Miss Forecasts

China reiterated focus on new growth drivers as the National Bureau of Statistics' economic data releases for July on Monday came in lower than expected by economists.

"The national economy was generally stable, maintaining the positive momentum of innovation-driven and high-quality development in the first seven months. However, we should be aware that the external environment is complex and volatile, the domestic imbalance between strong supply and weak demand is still acute, some enterprises are facing difficulties in operations and the foundation for steady and upward economic growth still needs to be consolidated," the bureau said.

Retail sales of consumer goods grew 0.6% in July to 3.902 trillion yuan, slower than the 1% growth in June and the consensus forecast of 1.5% growth tracked by Investing.com. Industrial production growth also slowed to 4.5% from 5.3% in June and missed the growth consensus of 5%.

Urban unemployment jumped to 5.2% during the reporting month, higher than the 5.1% consensus and the month-ago figure of 5%.

Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment declined by 6.7% in the first seven months, lower than the 5.7% contraction in the first half and steeper than the consensus forecast of a 6.2% decline.

"We must deepen reform and opening up, accelerate the transition to new growth drivers, step up counter-cyclical adjustments, and boost domestic demand and improve supply with greater intensity. We must make concrete efforts to ensure and improve people's wellbeing, bolster development momentum and boost social vitality, so as to sustain the positive momentum of innovation-driven and high-quality economic development," the bureau added.

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